Black Rose
by sasukedude
Summary: Sakura's high school life was less than perfect but the arrival of a certain Uchiha may allow her to break from her encompassing shell. SasuXSaku for mush lovers.


**The Black Rose**

Sighing silently by the meadow, arms firmly planted in her bosom as if she were holding her first born child, to Sakura Haruno these days were bliss as she hadn't many in her all but droll life as a student at Konoha High School. Awkward social inactivity, constant berating from those deemed of very substantial caliber, these were but a few of the inefficiencies she suffered and endured day in and day out. Recently a transfer from Ame High, where popularity seldom dwells, her level of scholastic book smarts brought her to the top of her class;Oh how she was envied. Despite her low self-esteem most found her a dime in a dozen, topping her unprecedented genius with extraordinary beauty. Sadly as most boys found her appealing this begot jealousy amongst her female peers.

No one asks for loneliness. She was but an individual soul, treading along an empty pathway hoping to spot a crystal clear road and escape the hollow brim of a loathed existence. To a girl whose life had been subject to maltreatment by the whim of her oppressors, what makes Sakura hold herself in joy? To embrace life in an everlasting whimsical of benevolence and freedom? Never had she felt the orgasmic sensations of the cool summer's breeze to be so soothing in her times of misfortune; so just what is it that makes her smile with unbridled ecstasy? The world may never know.

It was approaching noon. She knew because the sun touched the lake in the lot by the window, casting a light of reverence into the murkiness she'd grown accustomed to knowing. Time passed slowly, even so she found herself gnawing anxiously at the butt of her pencil, feverishly awaiting lunch time. Being a victim of prejudice anxiety overwhelmed her; She hadn't eaten since supper so one can only imagine her fatigue.

"Romeo and Juliet, a tragic story of crossed lovers living amorously despite their warring kinsmen. There are many verses that apply to love in general. Would either of you like to share a special verse you think is most appealing? Don't be shy."

She browsed desperately around the room with her eyes only spotting in the gloomy faces of her pupils boredom and lack of interest. Of course Sakura stood out, agitating with unease as she eagerly awaited to be called on.

"Once again Sakura is our only conveyor of literary interest. Let's hear it." Teacher declared as she dropped firmly into her chair, eyes planted on Sakura. She stood to her feet attracting unsightly glares from across the room. The girl shuddered. A nervous wreck she felt the encompassing pressure of rejection as they jeered on mercilessly. From the front of the room everything drifted off to Sakura. She'd been used to oral presentation during her long hours of thespian training; to someone with such experience the thick salty beads of anguished sweat speeding down her face was more than a mystery.

"E-E---" She murmured.

"So smile the heavens upon this Holy act...that after hours sorrow chide us not."Blurted Shishou, bridled by Sakura's obvious mental afflictions.

"Go on." She whispered softly to Sakura gazing aghast on the rigid faces of doubt.

" Eh...b-but come what sorrow can, I-It cannot countervail the exchange--" She was cut off.

" Countervail the exchange of joy..." A stranger somewhat intervened. Heads shifted swiftly from all corners of the class to the source, a youth, slim and slender standing nestled in the threshold of the entrance. Slowly young Sakura turned her head to gazed upon the face of the man who but so lovingly ended her words with grace.

"The exchange of joy," he continued," That one short minute gives me in her sight."

She was marveled. Stricken by the look of fire that flared passion into his dark-fill eyes. To her he relayed a dazzling smile, stand no more than six foot four in pale black and his jacket hoisted over his shoulder. His hair, the poetic shade of night hung over his face like a pair of droopy dog ears.

Even her peers, once tempted by sin to shun Sakura, could not bear to look away at the near luminous figure that steadily approached her from the doorway.

"Do but close our hands with holy words, then love devouring death do what he dare, it is enough I may but call her mine." Quoted he, bearing an expression of passion and bittersweet lust as he gazed deeply at her welcoming face.

"What an entrance," Said Shishou, " You're certainly quite the artist Mr..."

" Uchiha...Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yes of course. The transfer student from HoHo Academy. You weren't supposed to be due until Wednesday. Never mind, Mr. Uchiha, we were in the middle of a discussion on the meaning of the word 'Love' in the infamous workings of Play write William Shakespeare's **Romeo&Juliet **. Care to enlighten us with another charming verse?"

Shyly Sakura nodded, nervously rubbing her left arm with her right whilst her rosy red cheeks gleamed with a dispirited blithe. Sasuke of course took notice of her faint smile, her almost blissful cheer. Her face though mildly bleak said "yes" but her glistening emerald eyes that sprung from joy cried "PLEEEAAAASEEE!!!"

"I'm sorry," He replied, roughly shaking his head, "This is about as far as Shakespeare and I go."

"Oh that's too bad," Said Shishou tilting her head slightly in disappointment.

"Well you must remember to grace us in the future with your extended knowledge of the arts. Please take the empty seat next to Kiba."

Sakura couldn't take her eyes off him; to her, everything he stepped on turned to gold, mutually the class was smitten.

"Sakura you may take your seat as well," Shishou implored. Prominently throughout the room voices of praise and acknowledgment were being thrown at the new transfer student, only a few minutes assimilated into Konoha Academy. Everyone had forgotten their utter despite of the beautiful know-it-all that was Sakura, all to learn if only a little about that mystifying dark haired boy.

Kiba, second only to Naruto was known as the class-clown. He found little interest in pretty boy and seemed to be the only one besides Naruto himself not impressed by the presence of Sasuke whom most referred to as a "Sex God". Sakura took her seat, gazing about at the amount of attention he received, Sasuke of course. Bit by bit she began to wonder if she were like the rest, only impressed by what she saw, blindly looking upon the exterior of a masterpiece. Eventually she became ashamed and began to have doubts.

"Alright everyone settle down." Cried Shishou. She picked up a piece of chalk from the blackboard and resumed her lesson as formal as though Sasuke had never arrived.

From the corner of her eye Sakura glanced intrusively at the marvelous wonder, Sasuke, who was taking notes as Shishou spoke. His posture, his composure, even the way he scribbled about his notepad assiduously made her cheeks the shade of a rosy peach. Halting his work for a brief second Sasuke returned her gaze, blissfully beaming, this making her blush even more. Sakura was caught in a daze, lost in thought as those penetrating dark eyes pierced her heart and it felt good. She even began to question if she had suddenly been smitten.

"Sakura Haruno." Said Shishou

"YES I'll marry you!" She cried springing from her seat. Shishou glared with utter confusion and the class jeered at her utter dismay. Mockingly they snickered while throwing insults of the crudest order.

"Yes, well...I'm flattered by your answer however I am already a married woman." She retorted slapping her hands on her hips with a grin. Sakura once again Blushed in time for the ringing of the lunch bell.

"Don't forget to review chapters eight through ten!" Shishou exclaimed as the students in room 302 exited noisily.

In the Lunch room where Sasuke was the main attraction, Sakura sat alone at a vacant table in the far back region, grimly fiddling with her Miso Pork Ramen special. Loneliness to any other girl would drive them crazy but to Sakura, the peace and quiet she felt was vaguely replenishing.

"Sakura Chan" Hinata's meek voice interrupted her musings, as the pearly eyed girl took a seat beside her quietly. Hyuuga Hinata, her kindred spirit, the one and only with whom the pink haired girl was close to. They both could enjoy each other's silent presence for hours at a time, in an unspoken, understanding bond. But this relationship was forged more than just for the sake of having company, for one was the other's pillar, a support in this collapsing building known as the real world.

Sakura smiled at her friend graciously, having missed her and glad of not facing utter humiliation in front of her at the same time. Conflicting emotions—a terrible trait to possess. But as she gazed at the shy person seated next to her, whose weak deposition portrayed a likeness to a china doll—one which would shatter upon the slightest rough touch, the delicate figure smiled, her translucent eyes shinning for an instant.

"Tsunade sama rejected your marriage proposal?" she asked with the slightest hint of a tease in her soft tone. Sakura looked aghast

"No! it wasn't like that—I……wait, how did you get to know? The whole school knows now? Oh no" she pushed back her uneaten bowl of noodles and buried her head in her arms, already losing her meager appetite. She heard the faintest of a giggle from Hinata and peered over at her cautiously.

"It's a good thing you don't care" she smiled sweetly.

"I wouldn't care if it weren't for a random sex god lurking in my classes and hearing rumors about a beastly pink haired know-it-all" she thought bitterly, but why was she caring about what he thought about her? Wasn't she an all time believer of 'look underneath the underneath' as Kakashi sensei kept telling them? (despite his fetish for porn) She raised herself and brought the bowl of cold noodles towards her, her mind set in a resolve: she would not judge Uchiha Sasuke until she got to know him, what if he revealed to be a beast on the inside? And she would make not a single effort to impress him. That is how it should be, if he believed the rumors, than he would be as shallow as the rest of them. She started eating her food with determination.

"Sakura……..do you believe in love at first sight?" Hinata suddenly whispered.

_Crack._ And just as suddenly as her resolve had formed; it shattered. She whipped her head upwards to read Hinata's expression, what was behind those glowing eyes, that made her ask that question? that made Sakura doubt her strong will? Love at first sight basically meant an admiration of appearance, and not what was inside a person's heart. But her friend seemed as if she had addressed herself more than the pink haired girl, she was gazing at the next table, where an obnoxious blond was enthusiastically eating his own Ramen, talking loudly to her own infatuation. What did she see in Uzumaki Naruto?

"Hinata" said girl looked at her companion "you of all people shouldn't ask me that, because you don't believe in it yourself" Hinata nodded with a small smile. It was true, she came to love Naruto for his personality, good looks were just a bonus, otherwise she would have fallen over a pretty boy like everyone ("like myself" Sakura thought grudgingly). There did seem to be too many good looking males in this institution.

"Love at first sight….should be nonexistent" she stated "but I was really talking about you, Sakura chan" she regarded the raven sitting next to Naruto. Sakura did a double take: _how did Hinata find out? _That girl was too perceptive for her own good.

"I'm trying not to abide by that saying" she had a pink tinge on her cheeks, to match her hair. Hinata just smiled knowingly, and they continued their lunch without further conversation. Meanwhile in the distance the males were at play, Sasuke distinctly the center of attention with almost the entire available student body fawning at his feet. He bore a somewhat agitated expression consummated by the matchless amount of attention he received from peers he'd have yet to be introduced to. Still like a true celebrity he played along with the hype though yearning for a place to eat peacefully and quietly without countless faces gawking at him constantly.

"Come on Hinata." Said Sakura entertained by the contemporary display of aficionado before her eyes. She hurried to the exit, plate in hand, Hinata dragging behind against her will to the empty meadow by the lot where she had come often to recoil and shake off the pains and pressure of the constant hell called "high school".

"You know," suddenly blurted Hinata fiddling with Sakura's velvety peach colored hair, "you shouldn't approach him looking the way you do?"

"Approach who?" She asked, fiddling with the single blades of green grass surrounding her. "And what's wrong with the way I look?"

The girl with eyes of ivory paused, stroking Sakura's face in admiration of her glossy, cluttered skin. "Approach who Hinata?" She repeated once more with a subtle hint of frustration in her voice.

"I wish I had eyes like yours Sakura." Hinata whispered with a faint smile.

Quickly as she could react the rustling of footsteps in the moist grass made it all too clear, a stranger stalks as an apparition amidst the the bushes and trees. Quietly he approached, his hair, vivid as the mystifying raven bird flowing in the gentle breeze.

In time the bell would ring and students gathered for the next lesson. Hinata cloaked her poetic demeanor as she would do normally when someone other than Sakura was around.

"That's the bell, time to go." She implored of Sakura who remained staring deeply into the mystifying lake. The girl with sparkling eyes of emerald bore an expression which insisted her wish was to stay among the lively roses. Hinata knew this feeling all to well and aimed not to disappoint her. With no intention of staying any longer than she needed to, Hinata moved towards the lot.

Near the field of roses where her memories of a tattered past of aggression lie, in the midst of the field there was a black rose. She proceeded slowly to stroll among the field of roses, approaching grievingly the rose of colored night.

"Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. For if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I'll no longer be a Capulet." She whispered softly to herself as she held the tainted rose close to her heart.

" Tis but thy name that is thy enemy. Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What is Montague? It is nor hand nor foot, Nor arm nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O be some other name.  
What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet..."--And Sakura believed herself that a rose of any other name would smell as sweet. She was easily convinced looks were not everything----still Love makes you wonder.

Gently as she said her reprise, the black flower of love wilted and the soothing breeze carried it's petals into the peaceful lagoon where they drifted off, like any other sweet rose.

"I take thee at thy word, call me but love and I'll be new baptized. Henceforth I'll never be..."

He emerged from the bracken in the shadows. He had definition in his soul and his eyes were like fire ablaze, passionately approaching her unsuspecting form.

"I'm sorry, I hope you don't mind. I stumbled across this place when I noticed you pass me by."

She retorted coyly with a gulp, the tips of her forefingers pressed against each other. Prestigiously she endured an awkward introduction, sitting near the bank, plucking blade by molting blade of grass with a nervous quiver. He pressed his back against a tree, folded his arms and glared at her back with an indifferent expression.

"I played Romeo once. At my old school, during my freshman year." Said Sasuke, earnestly forcing conversation with the less than bashful rose-head.

"So many lines, so many words to memorize," He muttered as he slowly stepped towards the river bank, "Then when I finally grasped Romeo's character, I realized I couldn't pull off as perfect a performance as I wanted. Thinking to myself, 'this guy just isn't me', but what I learned from my character was that love―is vain."

"Why are you here?" Sakura scowled clutching a handful of grass and tossing it into the diamond water. Sasuke stopped, standing next to her with the same speechless frown.

"What gives you the right to invade the one place you're not wanted?"

Angrily the girl grabbed her books and stormed past the boy, absorbing his dark facial expression with what resembled utter malice. In spite of her reaction Sasuke didn't turn his back, not even for a split second, however, emulating her expectations, Sakura was satisfied that she avoided the epidemic of fan-girlism, reaching a new ladder of independence, even though she felt her actions were rash and unfair. Still, another win on her part.

The passing days would test her strength, meeting by awkward meeting around campus on a regular basis. Sakura had been withdrawn since that day, far more than usual, and with his face popping up more in her mind than by a serendipitous meeting she often questioned her sanity. Maybe love is vain because it sees itself as something it may not be seen as by the one who loves. Who's to say, Sakura relinquished any possibilities of ever falling in love, but there had to come an answer as to why her every thought revolved around being with Sasuke. In any scenario, she was not eager to find out.

Every evening when she came home, her mother would greet her with a smile, asking if she's hungry. She'd say "No" as usual, flying up the stairs to her room where she'd lock the door. Then she'd crack the door of her closet, just enough to slip right through, turn on the closet light, and reach for a silky, white dress with a cherry-blossom design stitched perfectly above the waist-line. In her fancy she'd fall onto the fluffy white cushion of her bed, taken by storm at her handsome prince charming dressed entirely in black and white. She'd take him by the hand, burying herself deep within his chest as he whispers, _"I love you". _Like heaven she'd smile whispering back, "_I true-love you too_", then they'd share a soulful kiss underneath the illuminating light of the full blue moon.

Soon, reality would take over, everything she'd ever want in life was an illusion and as she stood staring her reflection down in the mirror, that gorgeous white dress pressed against her body, she'd sob, crying herself into a deep sleep. She'd cry because what she saw was not the image of her body but blankness of her spirit and as a young woman, knowing what dwells within is what a makes a woman. Being the hollow shell of a man is what she avoided at all costs; since that day, since Sasuke's existence became known she became unsure of her feelings----or if there resided any there at all.

Sakura needed time to think. She knew no one, not even her best friend could advise her on something so personal. Not that she'd want to make public her situation but trusting Hinata, as reliable as she was, she was not prepared to take any chances.

Only she could construe the enigma of her troubled mind, and she was willing to do whatever was required. The normal place by the lot seemed fitting a setting as ever, alone, in perfect solitude, of this she was sure. It was free period and she outlandishly instructed Hinata not to speak to her. This of course aroused Hinata's suspicions, but she could never dishonor her closest friend's wishes, so like a true friend she steered away.

Sakura on the other hand craved her companionship, her somewhat philosophical gab. Hinata's words brought her comfort in her despicable, lonesome existence. Life, however, has its surprises and Sakura certainly didn't expect the company of a certain Dark-haired fellow. Yes, it was Sasuke, creeping behind her like a stalking sleuth. He stuffed his hand down in the pockets of his black uniform jacket, his hair rushing to meet the leaves as they took off in the breeze. Nervously she picked the grass from the earth, consistently expecting him to acknowledge her. Frighteningly he ignored her, kicking soil at the soles of his shoes and looking nonchalant.

Hastily she stood as her anger rose, her heart pulsating faster with each kick.

"Why are you here?" she growled subtly. He gave no response.

He challenged her patience one more time by paying her no mind.

"Answer me dammit!" She scoffed as their eyes met. She was now closer to him than comfort could stand, persistently querying with those same four words each with heart wrenching emphasis. Still----no response.

"Say something you bastard!"

"_SMACK!" She desperately let her emotions burst, striking his indifferent glare with her palm._

"You stole my life from me!" She sorrowfully exclaimed as she struck him again.

"Go away! You stole my life! You stole my life! You stole everything from me!"

She ponded at his chest cold-heartedly letting out deepening, tear jerking cry. All he did was watch mournfully at her sorrow. At a pace her blows became weaker, a clear sign her heart could take no more tests; as Sasuke wrapped his arms around her shoulders to console her she forcefully put up a dramatic fight. Jerking and punching, nudging and yanking her body all to desperately get away.

"Let me go!"

"What does your heart say?"

"Let go of me!" She shrieked.

"What does your heart say?!"-Sasuke exclaimed as he slammed her against the shaft of the old oak tree. Sakura nudged too violently, so much that Sasuke forcibly restrained her by her wrists. He'd then stare passionately into her glossy bright-green eyes and she'd return that passionate glare.

"What does your heart say?" He whispered gently, bringing his lips to meet hers, though she tried with all her strength to evade that almost imminent kiss, tears of struggle slowly ran down her eyes, or maybe it was the drops of water from the sky filling the lake in the background.

She couldn't fight reality, a prospect of her life manifested before her eyes, he was about to press his lips against hers. The man of her perfect dreams wanted her and there she is, resenting true love. '_I'm a fool'_, she thought, '_a damn fool'_.

She wasn't hesitant with her next move, quickly she met his lips with her lips as the rain fell rampantly, dripping from their soaked flesh. Her last thoughts as romance became known, '_My heart...says Sasuke is my prince charming'_.

No one, not even Sakura would have guessed one day would change her life for the best. It takes muscle for a woman to break from that hollow shell called despair, muscle she never had alone. Now look at her, lying merrily at her special place in her silky white dress, with her handsome man in black and white around her shoulders, chanting lyrics of _amore_.

"_I love you." He whispered._

"_Love is 'fickle' Sasuke-kun"_

"_You're right," The black haired boy responded with a smile, _

"_...I 'true' love you."_

* * *

**Hello everyone. This is just a oneshot I decided to throw together. Since I'm new at romance I could only afford to make a few parts fit for a SasuXSaku fanfic. Anyway I dedicate this to my friends at NC, I love you guys! This is for you. Oh and shanny...THIS...is how romance is written. XD**


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